Oil-immersed distributing panel



Nov. 29, 1932. H. e. BAXTER OIL IMMERSED DISTRIBUTING PANEL Filed May 13, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l a5 m 7 M 8 Y i y. A: mm M Mu FHIWF DIFIMMJJI mm i5 w W A 5 is L 4 lug mw UH EE g 8% fig E E% fi E E? g E Ndv. 29, 1932.

H. G. BAXTER OIL IMMERSED DISTRIBUTING PANEL Filed May 13, 1929 Q Q a @QEZ QC) E3 E3 QQQQEBQQQQQQQ 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Harald G.Baxzer.

ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 29, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HAROLD G. BAXTER, F BALDWIN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA OIL-IMMERSED DISTRIBUTING PANEL Application filed May 13,

My invention relates to distributing panels and particularly to distributing panels that are immersed in liquid for preventing access of the surrounding atmosphere, containing corrosive gases, to the current-conducting parts thereof.

In the copending application, Serial No. 330,450, filed January 5, 1929, by George G. Shannonhouse and myself, a distributing panel is disclosed wherein a panelboard is suspended from a hollow cover which serves to enclose the conductors associated with the panel and to close a tank containing liquid, such as oil, in which the distributing panel is immersed, the tank being detachably connected to the cover and removable in a downward direction for the purpose of permitting access to the panelboard apparatus.

An object of my invention is to provide an oil-immersed distributing panel wherein the fuse receptacles may be individually disconnected from the circuit by an associated switch having an operating rod extending through the cover and accessible exteriorly thereof and whereby any individual circuit may be opened at will, without necessitating removal of the tank.

Another object of my invention is to provide an oil-immersed distributing panel having the above-noted characteristics, wherein the insulating panel blocks or units are mounted upon a frame suspended from the cover and disposed in superimposed relation and off-set forwardly from the lowermost panel unit to the uppermost panel unit in order to place the circuit-controlling switches in separate offset tiers, whereby the operating handles may be disposed in separate groups, each containing the handles associated with a single unit, the groups being disposed one behind the other, correspondin to the position of the panel unit upon the supporting frame. By this arrangement, identification of the operating handle is made immediately apparcut, the handles in the first row being associated with the foremost upper panel unit and the panels in the third row from the front being associated with the device on the lower and rearmost panel unit.

A further object of my invention is to pro- 1929. Serial No. 362,685.

vide an oil-immersed distributing panel that is capable of accommodating a relatively large number of circuits within a minimum of space, and, to this end, the fuses are mounted on the front faces of the panel units and connected to a common bus bar disposed on the rear face, and the conductors individual to each fuse unit are arranged in groups that extend vertically at one end of the panel units, in a manner to be hereinafter described.

A further object of my invention is to provide an oil-immersed distributing panel wherein the circuit-controlled switches are immersed in liquid and controlled by exteriorly extending operating handles and wherein the handles are covered by a gastight cover which prevents access of exterior gases to the openings through which the operating handles extend.

These and other objects that will be made apparent throughout the further description of my invention, are attained by means of the apparatus hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, Wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of. a distributing panel embodying features of my invention, the liquid-containing tank being shown in vertical section;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the distributing panel, taken on the line II--II of Fig. 1; and,

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken through the cover for the operating handles, on the line IIIIII of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the distributing panel comprises a hollow metal. cover 4 having brackets 5 for the purpose of attaching to a switchboard frame or wall structure in such manner that the cover is supported in a horizontal position. The cover l is also provided with brackets ('3, to which vertically disposed angle bars 7 are attached and which depend from the housing to constitute a supporting frame for a plurality of distributing-panel units 8 and a neutral bus unit 9.

The units 8 and 9 preferably comprise insulating blocks that are provided with metal brackets 11, 12 and 13 which are adapted to be attached to the angle bars or frame 7. The

brackets 11 are of equal length and support the panel unit 9 and the uppermost panel unit 8 in superimposed relation in the same plane, and the brackets 12 and 13 are of unequal length and are shorter than the brackets 11 and, consequently, support the two lower most panel units 8 in superimposed relation but in different planes, as indicated in Fig. 2.

Each panel unit is provided with a plurality of fuse receptacles 14 for receiving standard cartridge fuses 15, the fuse receptacles being arranged in horizontal rows, and the uppermost receptacle terminals 1? being connected to a terminal 18 of a switch 19 having its other terminals 21 connected, in common, to a bus bar 22 disposed on the rear face of each anel.

The switch 19 may be of the usual tumbler type, wherein the switch arm is moved to open or to closed position with a snap action by an over-center spring which yieldingly retains the operating lever 23 in either open or close-"l position until it is moved from that position manually.

Each operating lever 23 is provided with an operating rod 24 which extends vertically and projects through an opening 16 in the cover 4. I

The lowermost terminals 26 of the fuse receptacles 14 are connected to insulated flexible conductors 27 that extend horizontally beneath the fuse receptacles to the right end of the panel units where the conductors from the fuse terminals of each group of fuse receptacles are arranged in groups to extend vertically into the housing 4 and into conduits 28 that may lead from the sides or top of the cover. The horizontally-extending portions of the conductors 27 are supported, as indicated in the drawings, upon insulating shelves 29 that are mounted upon the panel units 8, the lowermost shelf 29 being supported directly upon the frame bars 7.

The insulating panel block or unit 9 supports a neutral bus bar 31 having a plurality of terminals 32, one for each circuit containing a fuse receptacle mounted on the panel unitsbeneath. The bus bars 22 are provided with terminals 33 that are connected to a convenient supply bus (not shown), and current from the bus bars 22 passes, through the switches 19, fuse receptacles 14, conductors 27, to the load (not shown), and thence back to the neutral bus bar 31 which is provided with a terminal 34 that is connected to a feed bus of opposite polarity from that to which the bus bars 22 are connected. It is apparent, therefore, that, when the switches 19 are open, the fuse receptacles 14 are disconnected from v the circuit, and a fuse may be removed and for enclosing the entire distributing panel and all exposed conductor terminals. The tank 35 is filled with insulating liquid, such as oil, to the level 36, indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and is detachably connected to the cover 4 by means of pivoted bolts 37 that are supported on brackets 38 by releasable nuts 39. The lower face of the cover 4 is provided with an annular groove 41 in which packing material 42 is secured and, when the tank 35 is screwed tightly in position, a gas-tight joint between the cover and the tank is provided.

In order to prevent the gases from entering the cover 4, through the openings 16 and to obviate the necessity of providing an individual packing gland for each operating rod 24, I provide a hinged cover 43 having a packing ring 44 that engages the upper face 45 of the cover 4 that provides a gas-tight joint, preventing gases from entering the interior of the cover 4. However, the operating rods may each be provided with individual packing glands for preventing entrance of gases into the tank.

The cover 43 may be provided with a perforated wing 46 that cooperates with a similar wing 47 on the cover 4 to provide means for locking the cover in closed position. The hasp of a padlock (not shown) or a seal may be placed through the perforations in the wings 46 and 47.

As indicated in Fig. 3, the operating handles 25 are arranged in rows and the position of each group of handles corresponds to the position of the group of switches which they control. hus, the lefthand operating handle of the first group will operate the eX- treme left-hand switch on the uppermost panel 8, and the extreme right-hand handle 25 of the third row from the front of the panel will operate the extreme right-hand switch of the rearmost panel unit and so on.

Wh le I have illustrated but one embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent to those skill d in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions, additions and omissions may be made in the apparatus illus trated without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

' 1. A liquid-immersed panel comprising a cover, a supporting frame suspended there from, panel units mounted in superimposed and offset relation on the frame, current-controlling devices on the units having operating means extending vertically and supported by the cover and operable exteriorly thereof and a tank for containingfiuid in which the panels are immersed and adapted to be closed by the said cover and to be moved downward to expose the said panels.

2. A liquid-immersed panel comprising a cover, a supporting frame suspended therefrom, panel units mounted in superimposed and offset relation on the frame, fuse elements on the front faces of the panels and switches mounted on the rear faces of the units and associated respectively with the fuses, operating members associated with the switches and extending through the cover and accessible exteriorly thereof, and a tank for containin liquid in which the said units are immersed and adapted to be detachably connected to, and closed by, the said cover.

3. A distributing panel comprising a support, a frame mounted upon the said support, panel units mounted upon the frame and disposed in superimposed relation, a plurality of current-controlling devices on one side of each unit, a bus bar on the other side of each unit to which the devices on each unit are respectively connected, flexible conductors extending vertically to the said units and horizontally along the units and respectively connected to each of the said devices, and, a supporting shelf associated with each unit for supporting the horizontally extending portions of said conductors, one shelf being mounted on one of the panel units.

4. A distributing panel comprising a supporting frame, a plurality of panel units mounted upon the frame in superimposed relation, a bus bar mounted upon one face of each unit, a plurality of fuses mounted upon the other face of each unit and respectively connected to the bus bar of that unit, a separate flexible conductor connected to each fuse and extending horizontally along the unit to a point at one end thereof from which point it extends vertically to the support, and a supporting shelf associated with each unit for supporting the horizontal portions of the said conductors, one shelf being mounted upon the panel unit below the panel unit with which it is associated and the shelf associated with the lowermost panel unit being mounted upon the frame.

5. A liquid-immersed panel comprising a cover, a supporting frame suspended therefrom, panel units mounted upon the frame in superimposed relation and in offset planes forwardly from the lowermost to the uppermost unit, current-controlling devices on the rear faces of each unit, each having an operating member extending upwardly to the cover and provided with an externally operable handle, the said handles associated with the devices of each panel being arranged in separate groups, whereby the position of the handle corresponds to the position of the associated device, and a tank for containing liquid in which the units are immersed and v detachably connected to, an closed by, the

said cover.

6. The combination with an oil-immersed distributing panel enclosed by a gas-tight casing and having movable operating handles extending through openings in a wall of the casing, of a gas-tight cover for the handles for preventing access of external gases through the openings in the said casing.

7. In a distributing panel mounted in a gas-tight container, a supporting frame, panel units mounted in superimposed and offset relation on said frame, current-controlling devices on the units and having operat ing means extending through said container, said operating means being arranged in order corresponding to that of the associated controlling devices.

8. A distributing panel comprising a frame, panel units mounted in superimposed relation on said frame, a plurality of ourrent-controlling devices on each unit, a bus bar running along each unit and to which the devices of that unit are connected, and a supporting shelf along each unit for carrying flexible conductors from each of said devices to the end of the unit, one of the supporting shelves being mounted on a panel unit.

9. A liquid-immersed distributing panel comprising a cover, a supporting frame suspended therefrom, panel units mounted in superimposed relation on the frame, currentcontrolling devices on the panel units each having an operating rod extending upwardly therefrom and through the cover, and 'a tank for containing liquid in which the panel units are immersed and adapted to be detachably connected to said cover to be supported thereby and to be moved downwardly to expose said panel units without removing the latter, said cover serving as a closure for the tank.

10. A liquid-immersed distributing panel comprising a cover, a supporting frame suspended therefrom, panel units mounted in superimposed relation on the frame, currentcontrolling devices on the panel units each having an operating rod extending upward ly therefrom and through the cover, said rods being arranged in rows each including the rods associated with one of the panel units, and a tank for containing liquid in which the panel units are immersed and adapted to be detachably connected to said cover to be supported thereby and to be moved downwardly to expose said panel units without removing the latter, said cover serving as a closure for the tank.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 6th day of May 1929.

HAROLD G. BAXTER.

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